Multipurpose vehicles such as vans, minivans, sport utility vehicles and the like typically have a second or even third row of seats that may be installed rearwardly of the driver's and front passenger's seats. The second and third row seats may be selectively removable and replaceable through a large rear or side door in order to reconfigure the vehicle for carrying additional cargo. Removal and replacement of these seats tends to be somewhat cumbersome and requires a considerable amount of effort. In many cases two people may be needed to accomplish removal and replacement. Once the seats are removed, the user is obliged to find a place to safely store them. To overcome these problems and provide additional cargo carrying capacity, many second and third row seats are configurable to be folded from an upright occupiable position to a substantially horizontal load-supporting position, wherein the rear surface of the seatback acts as a load-bearing surface by means of forwardly folding the seatback member over the seat cushion member.
A significant problem that can be encountered during the forward folding of a seatback member over the seat cushion member is that of confronting interference between the headrest of the seatback member and a part of the vehicle's interior structure disposed immediately in front of it, such as other seats. This interference may prevent the seatback from reaching a filly folded position, resulting in an unlevel and/or unstable load-bearing surface. This problem may be exacerbated when the front seats are adjusted rearwardly or are in a reclined position.
Another potential problem with vehicle seat assemblies that fold from an upright occupiable position to a substantially horizontal load supporting position is that there tends to be a gap between adjacent seats. Such gaps permit objects to fall between the seats, or cause portions of the cargo to snag or become caught between them during loading. In addition, such arrangements may not be compatible with heavy cargo that may exceed the load-bearing capacity of the folded seat.
A means to overcome these limitations, while still providing additional cargo space, is to configure the seats such that the seatback is capable of remaining upright while the seat cushion is pivoted upwardly to stow against the seatback in a generally vertical position. This arrangement provides the user with access to a larger portion of the floor of the vehicle and room to load tall cargo, since the cargo space may extend from the floor to the ceiling of the vehicle. However, this configuration presents several challenges. Firstly, the seat cushion must be easily latched and unlatched when changing between the stowed and passenger seating positions. In addition, the seat cushion must be easily pivotable to the stowed position and securely retained in that position until it is returned to the passenger seating position. A particular concern is providing a vehicle seat with a pivotable seat cushion that will provide both the proper support for passenger use and adequately protect passengers in the event of a vehicular collision. An important element of providing such protection is securing the seat sufficiently to withstand certain forces encountered in collisions.
Others have attempted to provide a passenger seat with a moveable seat cushion. An example is the “fold and flip” seat, such as the seat disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,739 issued to Lagerweij. However, the fold and flip-type seat requires movement of both the seatback and the seat cushion in order to fold the seat. Further, fold and flip-type seats are typically anchored to the floor of the vehicle such that a set of forward seat cushion anchors are forwardly pivotable to allow the folded seat to be tilted forward, blocking the space forward of the seat.
A particular problem with prior folding seats is providing supports that adequately secure the seat to the vehicle, yet are neither obtrusive nor a present safety hazard when the seat is folded into its stowed position such that the seat's supports are exposed. Prior attempts have been made to overcome this problem with a folding or collapsing support leg, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,525 issued to Seibold. However, the rear support as disclosed by Seibold does not provide a workable solution for folding vehicle seats configured with upright seatbacks having pivoting seat cushions.
There is a need for a stowable vehicle seat with an upwardly-pivoting seat cushion that can be easily implemented. There is a further need for a stowable seat cushion that can be pivoted such that the space forward of the seat is not consumed by seat support members. There is a still further need for a stowable vehicle seat having a forward support member that does not create an obstruction or safety hazard when the seat cushion is moved into its stowed position. There is a yet further need for a stowable vehicle seat capable of providing the driver with additional rearward visibility when the headrest of the rear seat is in a stowed position. It is desirable that the stowable headrest include a safety feature whereby the torso line of a rear seat passenger is offset from the stowed headrest such that the seat cannot be comfortably used unless the headrest is extended and providing support to the passenger.